


Soft Intentions

by TheUsualSuspect



Category: The Politician (TV 2019)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Making Out, Soft Kisses, also fuck cannon because no thanks, and then it turned out really soft, i almost accidentally airdropped this thing to my whole family, i eat cannon for breakfast, i hope we get more flashbacks in season 2 of river and payton's relationship, it was going to be fluffy, then it turned sad, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 02:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21067460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUsualSuspect/pseuds/TheUsualSuspect
Summary: He hadn’t let a single tear slide for the longest time and it took the briefest of conversations for River to have him brushing several away. The power River so easily held over him, yet so delicately as if he knew how precious the gift was, and he didn’t want to abuse it.  Payton contemplated how many extra layers he needed to add to his wall today, in preparation for River. Ordinarily, he stood by his routine five, however, he felt more would be unfortunately necessary.He spent the next fifty-six minutes applying each layer of mortar and slowly adding brick after brick. Unbeknownst to him that he would be the one to break them all down.





	Soft Intentions

**Author's Note:**

> I was so desperate to get this out and put more into this fandom that I haven't edited and I wrote this instead of studying for my HSC exams so... REGARDLESS i hope you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing this, and I cannot wait until I have more time to write more for this fandom and explore other ships. Also, I'm hoping that Mandarin and French function similarly on a syntax level even though I have a very deep feeling they don't.

Payton could feel a phantom hand brush past the back of his neck. He subconsciously reached up to scratch at it. Its lingering sensation reminding him of River’s fingertips sitting there last week as he kissed him. He brought his hand back down to his fork and focused back on his breakfast, relinquishing the memory from his mind. Or at least attempting to. He drank the rest of his coffee and visualised suppressing the memory back into his cortex and locked behind a door. He did after all, have to face River again in approximately fifty-seven minutes and he didn’t want their kiss to be on the top of his mind. Not only would it make it difficult to concentrate on Mandarin, but also his brief track record had proven that River would see straight to his pre-occupied mind and the catalyst. 

That was what had surprised Payton most about River, not his complete honesty and straight-forward attitude, not the fact that they had barely uttered six words to each other when he confessed he faked his calm, not even when he asked Payton if he was happy. Mostly, he surprised himself at his response. He hadn’t let a single tear slide for the longest time and it took the briefest of conversations for River to have him brushing several away. The power River so easily held over him, yet so delicately as if he knew how precious the gift was, and he didn’t want to abuse it. Payton contemplated how many extra layers he needed to add to his wall today, in preparation for River. Ordinarily, he stood by his routine five, however, he felt more would be unfortunately necessary. 

He spent the next fifty-six minutes applying each layer of mortar and slowly adding brick after brick. 

Payton heard River’s arrival sound through the first landing and up the stairs to the second where his room lay. Where he currently resided, his Mandarin textbook propped open against crossed legs. Upon hearing the footsteps he started to feel his heartbeat make itself noticeable in its sporadic rhythm. River wasn’t even in the room yet and already he started to feel the odd rhythm vibrate the bricks at the bottom of the walls. 

There was a firm knock on his door.  
“Payton?” River called out.  
“Come in.”  
The door opened and River walked in.   
“Hi,” River greeted softly.  
“Hello,” Payton replied, costing a brief glance at River, noting his sporting of a mustard orange sweater and his trademark black shorts.   
He came to stand beside the edge of the bed where Payton was sitting and reading purposefully avoiding eye contact.  
“How are you going?” River started.  
“I’m understanding the future tense, but I’m still getting the verb conjugation in the present tense incorrect.”  
“Okay.” River sat down to try and meet Payton’s eyes, bumping him with his shoulder, “although I was asking how you were feeling, not if you were going in Mandarin.”   
Payton’s hands dropped from propping his textbook up. Of course he knew what River had intended.  
“I’m fine.” He looked up to meet River’s eyes and plastered a smile on his face, “I won the debate yesterday which will assist greatly in my application for Harvard and it my improves my skills for debate when I run for student body president next year.”   
“Congratulations. That’s great Payton.”  
“Yes. The ability to sway a crowd is the most important part of politics.”  
“Why is winning the only thing you care about?” Even with the accusation, his voice was soft.  
Payton let out a small breath, “if I don’t win. I don’t become student body president. I don’t get into Harvard. I don’t get elected for Senate. And if I don’t do any of that, I don’t become President,” his words were fast and unjustly rushed, “So it’s important for my future for me to win.”  
“I understand. You can’t let anything get in the way of what you want.”  
“Exactly.”  
River nodded and placed his books down on the bed, “can I read that?” He asked indicating towards the paragraph of characters scrawled across a page of Payton’s textbook as he swiftly moved the topic back on track to fixate them both on the foreign language.   
“Sure.” Payton passed the book across to River as he sat down on the edge of his bed across from him. 

As River marked through the paragraph pencilling in corrections and notes on syntax he could feel Payton’s eyes on him. He could sense that he’d finally lifted his head and all he could feel was a prolific wave of emotion gushing off of Payton and he could not discern the reason nor the specifics.

In that moment Payton thought that River was the most beautiful creature he’d seen. Admiring the fine knit of his sweater, stitched to allow for stretch, the elasticity for growth, ultimately smoothing itself across River’s wrists, and arms, and shoulders, covering his chest, all parts left open to his neck. Payton knew how his skin would feel to touch, to trace his fingers against it, to let his hand rest there as he pressed kisses against River. He shuffled his legs to lean forward noting how River’s neck led up to his jaw, chiseled, but soft, never jutting out in protest, then his cheeks laden with the most imperceptible shade of blush naturally dusting them. And then his lips. Payton shuffled closer, feeling once again River’s phantom body on his, pressing their lips together. The memory acting as an effective jack hammer to his hastily constructed walls.

“You’ve improved since you last wrote,” River commented, his eyes reading and re-reading the page.  
Payton hadn’t thought he would be the one breaking down his walls, he thought that job would be River’s. He hadn’t thought it was possible to betray himself.   
“Only a few syntax errors. Here, you meant to write: last year I holidayed in the Maldives with my mother. There was too much sand. But what you actually wrote was: there was sand too much.” He looked up at Payton to make sure he hadn’t lost him. Only to have the slight turn of his head end cupped by Payton’s waiting hand. His touch was light, incidentally causing him to lean further into Payton’s touch. The action releasing a tear down Payton’s face as his eyes sat open wide, windows to his soul, which was River’s for the taking. He blinked the tear away and leaned in slowly to meet River’s lips again. 

River parted his lips to meet Payton’s. Theirs, meeting delicately once again. River couldn’t taste the salt of any tears against Payton’s lips now and was glad that he wasn’t crying. He lifted his hand to the back of Payton’s neck tracing his thumb up and down the small hairs there. Payton leaned in closer, shuffling toward River on the bed. He placed his other hand on the other side of River’s face, encompassing his entire face with his hands, subtly pulling them closer together. 

Payton pulled back slightly, just enough to part their lips.  
“Was that okay?” He asked quietly, with his eyes downcast.  
River let out a small chuckle, “Yes. It was.”  
Payton gave a small smile and managed to meet River’s eyes. They sang to him like a ballad of open energy waiting to be seized.  
Payton leaned back in, opening his mouth up as an offering to River, who met him in the same manner, moulding together, seizing each other’s mouths in a much rougher fashion. Letting heavy breaths fall out every occasion they could. Payton’s hands moved back to rest on the back of River’s neck, just below his head, pulling him in closer. 

River’s lips were soft, but his kisses felt like honey. All longing and lingering; unrelenting even with his desire. His hands travelled down Payton’s shirt to rest above his hips. Slipping his fingertips onto the bare skin where the shirt rode up. Payton drew a shaky breath at the unexpected contact sparking across his skin. River was just surprised to have Payton actually kiss him first, twice. They hadn’t known each other long so River though it was a wonder to pull any reaction from him and figured it spoke to their undeniable chemistry.

Slowly, River’s hands traced their way around to Payton’s back and drew themselves all the way under his shirt, roaming up to his shoulder blades. Payton drew back with a start, and River lowered his hands uncertainly.  
“Did I do something wrong?” River asked.   
“No,” Payton replied, “just a surprise.” He brought his hands back to the sides of River’s face, looking him directly in the eyes, “A good surprise.” Wordlessly, Payton kicked his shoes off and shuffled forwards to bring his legs up to straddle River, pulling himself onto the other boy’s lap and moving his glasses, placing them to the side and positioning himself to look down at River, of which had been left speechless at Payton’s actions. This surprised Payton, he knew what desire felt like, but this wasn’t it. He’d never craved another person before and now he just wanted to be close to him.  
He cradled River’s head in his hands again as he leant down to place a single kiss on his lips, and then his cheek, his jaw. River responded with a soft gasp. Payton continued downwards leaving a kiss under his ear, followed by what he was sure would turn into a series of hickeys later, down the span of his neck. River’s breathing was heavy and interspersed with breathy moans. Which only encouraged Payton more. He’d also discovered he was right, the skin on River’s neck was soft and he was sure he was making the hairs there stand on end.   
Payton’s did too upon a breathy murmur of, “Payton.” From River as he pulled at the edges of his sweater, his lips quickly running out of real estate and helplessly nipping at the skin on his collarbone. River’s mind was focused only on each bundle of skin cells that Payton’s lips touched.

Carefully, so as to not pass the meaning that his actions were unwanted, River reached to guide Payton’s lips back to his. The proceeding kiss one of want and desire, and River who was always willing to give, was now one wanting to take. He pressed his body against Payton’s until the other boy had no choice but to reach an arm back to stop them from falling backwards, but instead lower them slowly. As his back hit his bed, River’s hands resumed to roam under Payton’s shirt. His touch leaving goosebumps in its wake. His fingers splayed wide, dancing all around Payton’s chest, his arms incidentally dragging his shirt further up his chest.   
Payton pulled back slightly to suggest, “you could take that off if you wanted.”  
River drew back and sat up, his face softened into a devilish smile, as his hands drew back out and he lifted the edge of Payton’s shirt, revealing each additional slice of chest as it drew further off of him and over his head. 

He pressed a kiss into Payton’s chest, starting at the top and working his way downward, adorning his chest with kisses. Loving the breathless mewls escaping from Payton. He pulled himself back up to face level with Payton, putting an arm around him and placing another soft kiss onto his lips. Before laying down beside him, lazily carding his hands through Payton’s hair, the other one tracing lines down his arm. 

They bathed in the presence of each other and the Santa Barbara sun peaking through Payton’s window. River saw everyone and felt everything and right now Payton did too. He could feel everything emanating from River. He was filling the room with warmth and closeness and a sense of security and as much as he declared he wasn’t last week, a sense of calm. Payton didn’t know what to do with all the emotion.  
He let out a shuddery breath and River looked at him in concern.  
“Are you okay.”  
“Yeah,” he let out feebly, “It’s just-“ he hesitated, “ I can feel it.”  
“Feel what?”  
“Everything. All of it. All this emotion.” He turned to look at River, “how do you do it?”  
“I focus on the good feelings,” he replied, “you help with that.”  
Payton let a blush spread up his face, mainly at River’s words also at his next admission, “I don’t feel anything unless I’m with you. Anger- yes, but nothing else. Nothing like this.” River gave him a soft smile.  
“It’s healthy to have emotions, Payton.”   
“I know. I just- I have all these walls up all the time to stop them and I’m still not quite sure why.”  
“You just need to learn when to let them in.” River leant in to kiss him again.   
And Payton knew, as if he didn’t after last week, there was only one person who he could pull his walls down for. He wasn’t sure whether he liked it or not, but he liked the sensation of being close to him, of having his fingertips in his hair, or leaving kisses down his neck. If that was what he was pulling all his protections down for, it was probably worth it. 

Probably.


End file.
